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Eugene City Council votes on downtown safety plans

By Christian Hill

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, page A1

To reduce crime and other offensive behavior downtown, Eugene city councilors are mulling a ban on unlicensed dogs in the city center and whether to temporarily close the covered shelters at the Park Blocks, where many homeless people and others now gather.

Councilors also will hold a public hearing on a proposal to ban smoking on the sidewalks surrounding the Lane Transit District station and other public buildings downtown as well as at Broadway Plaza, also known as Kesey Square.

However, councilors this week nixed a proposal to install security cameras at the Park Blocks to deter crime.

The proposals were among the strategies city staff members brought forward during a work session Wednesday to cut crime downtown.

Police Chief Pete Kerns, a 35-year veteran of the department, has said the problems rose to unprecedented levels this summer, and city leaders are facing increasing calls from downtown business representatives, employees and residents to take action.

Eugene police stepped up their presence downtown during the late summer. The department did so again starting this month after a crowd angrily confronted police officers who were trying to arrest an uncooperative suspect following an alleged drug deal at the Park Blocks, located around Eighth Avenue and Oak Street.

Loiterers congregrate underneath and around the shelters at the Park Blocks, and city councilors supported further discussion about temporarily closing off access to them.

Eugene police have said they’ve seen an uptick of drug use and sales at the Park Blocks, one of the highest generators of police calls downtown.

The proposal calls for the shelters to remain open for permitted events, such as the Saturday Market.

While councilors said they were willing to continue discussing the option, several of them raised concerns about punishing the many for the actions of the few.

“I’m not crazy about them, frankly,” said Councilor Mike Clark of the proposals to temporarily close the shelters and install security cameras, “but if it’s necessary for public safety and your efforts to continue, well, then OK, fine.”

City regulations require Eugene residents to license their dogs but provide a five-day grace period for residents who move from another city.

One proposal would end that grace period for dogs downtown.

Many loiterers downtown have dogs, and the high concentration of canines in a dense area is a concern for downtown residents and workers, Kerns said. The police chief said the dogs are well-behaved 90 percent of the time, but it’s upsetting for people when they are not.

A dog attacked and killed a dog owned by a city employee in downtown this summer, City Manager Jon Ruiz said, and the city employee was injured.

Councilors agreed to hold a future public hearing on a proposal to expand the no-smoking areas downtown.

City regulations ban smoking in all public venues and businesses as well as near their doors and windows. Bars and taverns can have outdoor smoking areas if they meet certain rules.

The city banned smoking in all its parks and natural areas, including the Park Blocks, starting in June.

Individuals congregating at the Park Blocks have begun moving onto the sidewalks in order to comply with the rule, prompting complaints from nearby businesses, according to a staff report.

City staff members are examining myriad other strategies for downtown, including adding lighting and making other improvements to the Park Blocks. The city added lighting to Kesey Square last summer.

They also are looking at offering small grants to promote more community events downtown, having an attendant monitor one or more public restrooms, providing needle drop boxes for drug users, and hiring a downtown manager.